Improved oar-body frames



S. MERRICK.

Railway Car,

' Patented Apr. 2. 1867.

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S. MERE-ICE, OF. N EW BRIGHTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

t Letters Patent No. 63,548, dated April 2,1867.

IMPROVED GAR-BODY FRAMES.

ALL WHOM IT MAY, CONCERN:

Be it known that I, S. MERRICK, of New Brighton, in the county of- Beaver, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Frames for Railroad Car Bodies; -and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art' to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- I I Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved car frame, taken in the plane of the line a: :12, fig. 2. Figure 2 is an inside view of the bottom of the frame, partly in section, taken in the line 2 2, fig. 1. Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section, taken in the line y, fig. 2.. l Similar letters of reference indicate like parts. i v Thisinvention relates to improvements in the construction of iron frames of railroad cars, and consists in applying arch-trusses in the centre and ends of the sides, in combination with the main sills and stanchions, and also tying the main and cross-sills-with a. flat horizontal plate, insuch manner that all the parts ofthe' frame shall be firmly secured to each other, and so connected and related as' to be self-supporting independently of panels or lining. My improved iron selfisustaining truss frame entirely overcomes the difiiculty of settling in the middle, common to ordinary car frames. The stanchions may be of wood or iron, and the covering, panels, and lining may be of light materials; thus greatly diminishing the dangers of splinters in case of collisions, from the absence of the heavy timbers in wooden our frames. The car body with my improvements will I be several tonslighter than ordinary car bodies, making a great saving in the dead weight of rolling stockon .a railroad. r i 4 i A A are the main sills of a car frame made of wide plate iron, et up vertically on the sides, lengthwise of the car, and connected \vithcross-plates, A A, at each end, firmly bolted at the corners. The stnnchions at a are made of Wood or fiat bar iron, bolted at the bottom to the main sills, covered with wood or iron panels, as described in apatent granted to me October 2, 1866. Angle-iron plates, 6 b, are riveted on the inside to the bottom of the main sills A A, running around the ends of the frame. Upon the horizontal flanges of the plates l I) Z? are bolted the plates 0 c, which are as wide as the main sills A A, and lie at right angles to them, forming a T-shaped connection, as seen in section, fig.,3. The plates 0 run from end to end of the frame. The ends of the cross-sills d at rest upon and are rivetedthrough their flanges to them; thus-immense strength is secured to the'bottom of the framein all directions. In the middle of the frame, on both sidesbetween the transoms e e, are placed arched trusses, B B, which are bolted at their ends to the main sills A A, and to the stanchions a a at their several intersections. Flat bar iron may be used, but I profer-nngle-iron, and the strength should be stullicient to prevent buckling, according to the sizennd weightof the cor. Over the tr'ansoms e e are placed angle trusses, (l C, which are bolted at top to studs g-g, standing on the trnnsor ns, and also to the stanchions at c the same as themiddletrusses, and to the main sills A A, at their ends. They may be made of band iron. By this combination of trusses with the main sills, and of the horizontal side plates 0 c with the cross-sills, the whole structure is braced and mutually supported so completely in every part, both laterally, vertically, and

'lon'gitudinnlly,'that the ,car frame is pertleetly self-sustaining.

Having. thus described my invention, Iclaim as new, andrdesireto secure by Letters Patent In the construction of frames of car bodies, the irod arched trusses B, the angle trusses C,. a.nd the horizontaliron plates 0, in combination with the main sills A, the stanchions a, and the "cross-sills d,-arra-nged substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

S. MERBIOK. Witnesses:

E. D. MEnmcK, 'W. S. MORLAN. 

